Thursday, 28 September 2017

Diwali, the time of the year we
all wait for so eagerly, is around the corner! As you prepare for this grand
season of sweets and festivities, we encourage you to consider shopping at an
NGO. Here are some of the reasons why buying NGO-made products will illuminate your celebrations beyond your expectations:

● The magic ingredients: Products made at NGOs
are made with special effort and care. They are not merely artefacts up for
sale but tokens of love and gratitude for the kindness bestowed upon them by
their well-wishers and supporters.

● Unique charm: Unlike
factory-made merchandise, these products hand-made. And just like the humans
who create them, each piece is different and has a charm of its own.

● Reliability: A NGO is based on
the foundation of timeless human values like empathy, integrity and solidarity.
Therefore, providing you with the highest quality of products will be a
priority.

● Illuminating actual lives: The
revenue collected from your support goes directly to the beneficiaries,
ensuring that the very people who create the products are empowered and not
some third-party or agent. Meanwhile, you get to use a finely refined commodity
that adds value to your life.

● Tangibly changing Lives: By
using products made at an NGO, you support communities that are usually
socially/economically/intellectually challenged. You boost their morale and
allow them to create an environment where they can prove their worth to the
rest of the world.

● A Force of Good: When you
support an NGO, you also encourage people around you to widen their horizons.
Remember every good action you perform cascades into a butterfly effect, the
power of which transcends the sum of its parts.

Wednesday, 13 September 2017

One of the main questions we all face in
our lives, especially the young among us, is “What kind of job is really worth
spending my time and effort on?” While the answer to this question may
be subjective, we have compiled a list of reasons why working at an NGO will be
a perfect start to your career and future life.

1.Will over Experience: At an NGO,
your devotion to the cause and your willingness to work towards it matters more
than your experience. Passion will be rewarded.

2.Responsibility: Working for an
upcoming NGO will inevitably put you in a position of responsibility. Your work
will seriously matter to the organization, not to mention the copious amount of
lessons you will learn.

3. Opportunity to build a network: You are bound to meet a lot of talented
and driven people at an NGO. Working and networking with them will open up
tremendous opportunities for you in the future.

4. The Sweet Struggle: Working at an NGO is challenging. You
will be forced out of your comfort zone, and by doing so, build confidence and
become a better communicator in a relatively short span of time.

5. Directly affect lives: At an NGO, you will be changing lives for
the better, literally. Progress will no longer be an abstract term. Working at
an NGO will keep you at your happiest because a better world would be building
before your own eyes and you will be one of its architects.

6. Humane Work Conditions: The very basis of an NGO is to show
respect and love towards our common Humanity. Unlike the exploitative corporate
environment, your uniqueness will be valued by those around you.

7. Launchpad for a great future: While it may be true that the pay here is
not always the greatest but nothing reflects on your CV better than having some
work experience at an NGO.

8. Seeds of Humanity are sown:Once you spend some time working for an NGO, your
perspective on life will definitely change for better. Throughout the rest of
your career, whether or not you keep working for an NGO, you will be more moral
and benevolent in your choices.

Monday, 4 September 2017

If you follow Advitya
on any of its social media pages or if you have ever visited here, you probably
have an idea of how happening a place this is. Every day brings with it a
plethora of wonderful moments of laughter, frolicsome activities and profound lessons.
The first and probably the single most important thing that I learned spending
time here was how clueless I was throughout my life, like any average person,
about the daily struggles of persons with special needs. It is truly astounding
to notice just how many things in life we take for granted and how often we
fail to recognize the challenges faced by others.

Therefore I was
certain that a day spent outdoors with Advitya - especially at a place like
Aquamagica - was bound to bring with it a lot of fun, challenges and
insights.

Early in the morning of
August 23rd, dressed proudly in their characteristic fluorescent
green and bright orange ‘Advitya’ T-Shirts, Team Advitya set forth on a journey
to a world of giant water slides and wave pools.

To be honest, I was
slightly worried in the beginning. Worried, not for the students, but for the
volunteers among us. It just seemed too heavy a task to manage more than twenty
special students for a day in a potentially hazardous environment like a water
park. In retrospect, I can clearly see that my fear had more to do with my
inexperience and the novelty of it all than anything else. Also, it is worth
mentioning that something similar happens with “normal” people when they
interact with specially gifted people for the first time. We tend to
underestimate their emotional intelligence and their ability to adapt to
changing circumstances.

My personal favorite
experience through the trip, hands down, had to be dancing in the wave pool
with my special friends. I can never forget the expressions of joy all around
me. At the end of the day, not many of my specially abled friends could
articulate exactly how they felt, but I could see by the jolly faces and
shattering cries of laughter that every one of them loved it as much as I did.
Yes, on the way back, sleep and fatigue overcame everyone but it was all worth
it, because we were carrying with us a bagful of sweet and happy memories to
cherish for a lifetime.

I encourage anyone
reading this blog who might hold any reservations, to make an effort to connect
with every specially gifted person you might come across. Once you cross that
barrier, you will surely be overwhelmed, to the point of tears, not just by the
exhibition of heroic courage and spirit before your eyes but also by the shower
of love and generosity that will come your way.

My name is Abhishek Vidhate and I am 19 years
old. For almost three months now, I have been working at Advitya as an
intern.